After the deadline for registering with British authorities and disclosing the identities of their beneficial owners passed, overseas owners of property in the UK now risk financial penalties or legal action. The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy stated in an e-mail statement on Wednesday that the UK government is preparing an enforcement action against organizations that haven’t complied with the deadline of January 31 and who may face “serious consequences.” Out of the 32,440 overseas entities that have been registered, an estimated 12,930 still need to disclose who their beneficial owners are.
Crypto exchanges could become multilateral trading facilities
According to a source familiar with the plans who was not allowed to speak publicly, crypto exchanges will become similar to multilateral trading facilities run by LMAX Group and TP ICAP, a form of a trading arena for alternative assets. The UK also intends to tighten regulations for digital asset custodians and financial intermediaries, mandating that all businesses adhere to strict guidelines and standards for data reporting, consumer protection, and operational resilience.
The drive to enact stronger regulations in the UK comes amid unrest in the cryptocurrency industry, which has been characterized by several high-profile breakdowns, bankruptcies, and scandals, according to a Bloomberg report. Last year, investors suffered billions of dollars in losses due to falling token values and platform failures, and authorities worldwide increased their scrutiny of the asset class.
The FTX saga is still prompting more regulatory scrutiny on crypto
Concerns about whether cryptocurrency businesses provide enough user safety have been raised in light of recent criminal charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of major crypto exchange FTX. Bankman-Fried is accused of giving Alameda Research, FTX’s sibling trading platform, unrestricted access to client funds for its use while borrowing money from the company for his benefit.
A new “crypto market abuse regime” would mandate that intermediaries prove they can avoid conflicts of interest, implement adequate procedures to identify market abuse in transactions involving crypto assets, and send suspicious transaction order reports (STORs) to the regulator. This would mitigate the dangers of so-called “pump and dump” fraud and insider trading within cryptocurrency businesses. This issue became more prevalent in 2022 due to the accusation or conviction of former workers at trading organizations, including Coinbase Global Inc. and OpenSea.
The UK government and the cryptocurrency market both battled to preserve stability. Thus little progress was accomplished when the government presented numerous fresh recommendations for crypto regulation in 2022. Griffith informed lawmakers earlier this month that it is unlikely that the UK would approve any crypto asset legislation till at least 2024.
Various other governments are developing their measures. The expansive Markets in Cryptoassets Directive (MiCA) of the European Union will be put to a final vote in April, while the White House recently urged the US Congress to “speed up its efforts” to put regulations on cryptocurrency after numerous proposals struck snags at the end of the previous year.
